


Sunlight + Sheepskin coat + Sleep

by EWM



Series: Whumptober2020  (MyfirstWhumptober!!) [23]
Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Gen, James MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016) Being an Asshole, Mac as a vampire, Whumptober, Whumptober 2020, jack dalton as a vampire hunter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:13:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27332494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EWM/pseuds/EWM
Summary: Written for Whumptober Day 23, this part of a much bigger story called "Loving the monsters always ends badly for the humans. It's a rule - chapter 13.Part of  Mac and Jack return home and Mac snaps at him.Feedback so welcome, does the dialogue work? Is it too long? Give me the thoughts please :DNo 23. WHAT’S A WHUMPEE GOTTA DO TO GET SOME SLEEP AROUND HERE?Exhaustion | Narcolepsy | Sleep Deprivation
Relationships: Angus MacGyver & James MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016), Jack Dalton & Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016)
Series: Whumptober2020  (MyfirstWhumptober!!) [23]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1995484
Kudos: 11





	Sunlight + Sheepskin coat + Sleep

Mac and Dalton made a strange pair as they wobbled out of the foundation’s offices leaving the chaos behind. They were both covered in dirt and dust and were leaving a substantial blood trail behind. Jack was trying to focus on keeping Mac on his feet, the broken leg was proving troublesome, Mac kept trying to walk on it, he groaned repeatedly with the odd yelp as well. What Jack couldn’t understand why it wasn’t healing, even after their fight, Dalton knew Mac’s own gifts should be kicking and he should be recovering, but he wasn’t. Jack put that out of his mind to file away for issues later. After what seemed like an age, they finally got to the back entrance of the foundation, Jack kicked open the door with his foot, so he wouldn’t have to let go of Mac. The duo moved towards Jack’s bashed up Pontiac, it wasn’t exactly an inconspicuous car, elegant and black with more than a few knocks on it, Mac raised his eyebrow at Jack

 _“Hiding in plain sight kid.”_ Dalton responded grinning

Mac simply shook his head in confusion which prompted another groan of pain. Jack took a firmer hold of the kid and walked slowly towards the doors, putting his own pain aside. He’d recover later, for now he just had to make sure Mac didn’t die on his feet or in his car. He pulled open the passenger seat door and tried to push Mac inside, but Mac stood stock still despite his wrecked leg.

_“I’m not sitting in the back, I’m not some child who needs to be punished.”_

Jack’s mind boggled slightly at the level of dysfunction in that sentence, but he responded as civilly as he could

_“Never said you were, but you do have a broken leg and your legs are long and gangly as fuck. You won’t be able to sit in the front seat comfortably with me, you can actually lie down in the back and you know rest.”_

_“I don’t need sleep, I thought you said we were going to talk plans and strategy. Let’s do that..I can…I can…”_ Mac started to slur his words a little bit. Jack took advantage of his loss of concentration and pushed him gently into the back seat, ignoring his protesting knees as he lent down. Mac stubbornly propped his head up but stayed lying down mostly. Jack extricated himself from the car and went to the trunk, he didn’t think vampires got cold even though Mac was really only wearing a cotton top and jeans, but maybe Mac would want something to hold onto. He dug around amongst the many weapons in the back until he found what he was looking, an old sheepskin jacket, which he kept in there for the few times when work drove him out of the sunny LA area. It smelt a bit of his aftershave and the odd sneaky cigarette, but it was fine. He paused again, was this overkill? Why was he doing all this for some fucked up teen (technically young man) with daddy issues and an appetite. Dalton knew on one level, Mac was so…damaged. He pitied him, he’d been used by his father all his life and the CIA were clearly going to use him, something Matty wouldn’t ever acknowledge and Jack wanted to do something nice and well normal for him. The fact that he was basically facilitating this whole situation and removing Mac from one user, only to be potentially screwed over by another, Jack pushed aside like so many other things for the to be dealt with later pile. He went back over to the still open passenger door and threw the jacket onto Mac;

_“In case you get cold or something.”_

_“You know I don’t get cold right?”_

_“Whatever, let’s get going.”_

Dalton got into the front seat and drove, his injuries were protesting, his muscles ached from the fighting and he could feel that unpleasant sticky sensation on his shoulder from half dried up blood. He checked on Mac in the back, he was now sitting up in the back of the car looking out the window, but with his leg at least stretched out and to Jack’s amusement his sheepskin coat stretched over him, the boy really did look awful. His skin was ice white, like the blandest yogurt ever, his eyes which were their ‘normal’ shade of blue and had huge bags under them which gave them a hollow deep-set look, even his hair looked kinda dull. The only thing Dalton registered that looked vaguely ‘normal’ was the blood streaks across his arm and his face, he picked up that the boy’s blood still glowed just faintly and in what universe was that normal anyway? He eyed the kid with his chin on his fist, staring out of Jack’s window, he watched Mac’s eyes slowly shut and his head drop just for a second and then his eyes snapped open, awake and alert in a scared animal sort of way. Dalton sighed, he really did pity Mac.

The drive lasted a little while as Dalton’s rented flat was in a less salubrious bit of L.A. The two of them didn’t say anything on the drive, Jack didn’t really know what to say to him. Part of his sleepy brain was saying, just dump the kid! He’s nuts, he’s so broken and crazy, leave him with the CIA, TAKE YOUR MONEY AND RUN!! THIS BOY IS GOING TO GET YOU KILLED. But the rest of him was just a tad more complicated, there was something about MacGyver that he found fascinating, watching him work was remarkable and he the potential to be something…something else, other than his father. After so many years of being angry at the world Jack found himself warming to the idea of something or someone more hopeful. Jack arrived at his apartment and parked the car, conscious that they were getting close to sunrise, he speedily moved around to the passenger side and offered Mac his hand. Mac stubbornly refused to take it, he tried to get up, Jack’s coat still on his shoulders, but then almost collapsed on the grass anyway so Jack had to kneel next to him, again he tried to pull Mac up, but the kid refused.

 _“I can do it!”_ Mac snapped

_“Yeah kid, but you’re doing it at the pace of a toddler and the son is coming up soon and I don’t want you to burn to crisp, before.”_

_“Before I’ve done what you wanted!”_ Mac snapped again, still on the grass, his mutilated leg sprawled out to the side.

_“Easy Mac, I know we don’t exactly know each other. But I don’t make a habit of watching people burn up if I can help it.”_

_“Unless you hunt them…_ ” Mac murmured

_“But we’ve already established that I ain’t going to hunt you, so calm the fuck down.”_

Mac still sat sprawled on the grass, not moving. Jack could see the sun coming up just over the edge of the hill.

 _“Look, you want to sit here and burn fine, but I’m not going to watch, you want to come inside, give me your hand.”_ Jack said getting up and offering his hand

Mac still did absolutely nothing, just sat there. Jack wanted to scream in frustration and then something happened that made up his mind. He saw the sun hit Mac’s face and the tiniest hint of a burn started to appear, his skin began to hiss and he flinched, then Mac’s body just dropped onto the grass. Dalton didn’t hesitate, he heaved Mac over his shoulder in a fireman’s lift (Dalton’s shoulder did not appreciate this move), grabbing his sheepskin coat along the way and slammed the door of his car shut with his foot and raced inside. He fumbled with his keys for a few seconds and mumbled a few words to no one in particular, but then he was in. He dropped Mac onto the couch, covering him in the coat again and went around shutting curtains, windows anything that let light in and then returned. Mac woke up a few minutes later with a start, his hand went to his face, he hissed audibly as he put his hand up to touch his newly burned cheek. Dalton grabbed a chair and sat in front of Mac and waited

 _“What happened?”_ Mac asked still rubbing his cheek

“You nearly burned to death Mac” Jack said coldly

Mac tossed the jacket onto the floor next to him, then put his head in his hands, he groaned again and then the words came pouring out

_“Jack I’m sorry…I’m just so tired…I haven’t slept or fed in days…and I can’t even...I want to help I do. I meant what I said at the Phoenix, I’ll help in anyway can and God I want…I just want my father’s voice out of my head. I can hear him all the time Jack, yelling, whispering…he’s never not there. It’s like…I can’t even think for myself and he’s there, that psychotic son-of-a-bitch telling me everything, telling me what to do, telling me what to think and I can’t even…when you said I could be free Jack. You have no idea what that meant to me, it’s been so long since I’ve done anything for myself. I can’t even remember the last time I did. It was probably when my Mom was still alive…you know she always told me I could chose my own life, that I was special…that I could live in two different worlds…it’s like she was just a dream Jack, that part of my life wasn’t even real.”_

Dalton listened to this strange confession, fascinated. He was tempted to stop him mid-speech, clearly Mac needed some sleep. He doubted whether any of this would have come out if exhaustion and by Mac’s desperate tone possible forced sleep deprivation by his own father hadn’t taken over. Jack supposed that it was the equivalent of being drunk for a human. Clearly the kid had been waiting a long time to spill this out and for whatever reason he had picked Jack to tell it too so Jack decided to let him go on, maybe if he kept talking for a little while longer, he would simply wear himself out.

_“You know I see her sometimes….in my head, it’s like she’s right there in front of me. I can see her lips moving as she comes closer to me, and she desperately wants to say something to me but I can’t hear it. It’s like some kind of fucked up torment, she’d hate me now if she saw me, saw what I’ve become. She’d think I was some kind…a monster, nothing like her. I’ve got nothing of her in me Jack and it makes so sad…I wish something of her lived on me….I mean I look like her….or at least I think I do. That’s what my father always use to tell me when I was young and I think…he hated me for it…he was so disgusted with me for being there when she wasn’t…it was like I was nothing to him, not worth anything. But I was all he had…and he was so disappointed and I could never not be that…God…I’m just so weary…I could sleep forever, that’s why I didn’t move…I thought, the sun could take me and my worthless…shitty life would be done…”_

The last few words came out as a mumble as Mac, put his head in his hands once again. Jack didn’t say anything for a little while. He took in Mac, the top and jeans and old boots, he so carefully hidden from his father, the underweight shape, the mess of too long hair, usually slicked back and now sticking out in funny places, the scarred arms, all white lines and raised marks and of course the necklace Dalton had given him to shut his father out. Jack shuddered at what Mac’s father did to him to produce such heavy scars so quickly, he could now ever saw yet another scar on the boy’s neck from that silver chain…. What a fucking psycho, he heard Mac groan louder and looked up again. His hands were over his eyes. Dalton knelt down next to him again and tried to pull his hands away from his eyes

“Kid, come on, what’s happened?”

“Jack…stop III can’t…II”

Jack pulled again at Mac’s wrists and then saw them, those strange blue eyes, they were changing colour, turning an sparkling azure in front of him. Mac tried to blink and shake his head back and forth.

 _“I can’t control it…I can’t see…I…I don’t know what’s happening to me.”_ Mac cried. Jack kept a firm hold on Mac’s wrists and kept his voice calm

_“Mac listen to me…you can, you can control it. Just slow down…slow everything down.”_

_“Jack I feel like I’m being ripped in half!!”_

_“Mac, just listen to my voice. Push all of it away…your father…your mother. All of it, all you’re going to do is listen and calm down, come on kid, just calm the fuck down. I know you can do it, I’ve seen it.”_

Slowly the panic in Mac started to recede, listening to Jack’s Texas drawl was soothing, his breathing slowed, the pain behind his eyes started to go away, his blood wasn’t on fire anymore and his father’s voice which had been screaming in his ears again, once more retreated to a whisper he could just about ignore. Jack registered the shift back in MacGyver and breathed a sigh of relief. He really had no idea what he was doing, he didn’t have any clue what the kid’s powers were and if he could control them, but Mac at his core was a frightened child and needed reassuring and Dalton did the best he could for him. When Mac was calm again, Jack dropped his wrists and Mac looked up at him smiled.

_“Okay Mac, I know we said, we going to talk plans and strategy, but all I think you really need now is sleep.”_

_“Jack…I’m sorry you had to hear all that. But really I’m fine…I’m fine.”_ Mac responded slurring even worse than before

_“Sure Mac, you’re fine. But I want sleep too, so you might as well recharge and indulge me and my weak human body, okay?”_

Mac nodded at him.

_“Alright, so you want the bed? I mean that broken leg isn’t going to be super comfortable on that couch.”_

_“No Jack, I’ll be fine trust me. You sleep on the bed, rest your old man body. I’ll just stay here.”_

Jack snorted, at least the kid had a sense of humour in spite of it all.

_“My father…he’ll be able to find me…is this place safe? I mean….how can we stay here?”_

Jack snorted again.

_“That stone around your neck, more than blocks him out of your head, it kind of protects where you are. Just go with it okay and more to the point in my opinion, this is place is warded. They won’t last forever, but it’ll keep dear old dad at bay for a bit.”_

_“Are you a warlock as well as a hunter?”_

_“Ha, no, not even a little, I just know a bit about the occult, and I know how to protect myself. Now any more questions?”_

Mac shook his head. Dalton nodded and got up

_“You obviously won’t need anything Mac, but if you did, I’m just on the other side of this door alright?”_

Mac didn’t respond and Dalton just shrugged, he went through the door on the right side of the tiny apartment to the bedroom and collapsed on it. He figured Mac might need a little space after he unintentionally poured out his hear and soul (did he even have a soul? – of course, he must do!) to a virtual stranger. All the injuries on his own body that he had been steadfastly ignoring for the previous three hours decided to wake up at this point. His wrecked shoulder and his own damaged leg as well as numerous other cuts and bruises all started to complain in unison at Dalton. His brain was full of worry for Mac, for what he was doing, how they were going to even survive. But thankfully the rest of him was too tired out to care , so as soon as his head hit the pillow, he fell asleep.

Mac watched him go into the bedroom, apparently deep in thought. He heard Dalton nod off and his heart rate slow. He lay back on the couch and tried to think, he was so drained by everything that had happened in the last few hours, hell the last few days (months too if he was honest), he could barely put any thoughts together. Dalton made no sense to him, his kindness, his generosity and his casual acceptance of Mac’s monstrous nature were so at odds with his reputation as a hunter that he didn’t know what to think. Part of him so desperately wanted to believe what Jack offered him was real, the chance to be free, the chance to leave his father and his blood-soaked legacy behind, but even now Mac doubted it in some small corner of his mind. He also knew his father would come for him, despite Jack’s confidence and the CIA, what would he do for them? Would they keep their word or just kill him?. He stretched his painful leg out on the couch and dragged Jack’s coat off the floor, it certainly smelt of Dalton, cigarettes and gun powder and a musty hint of dust. Mac didn’t mind any of that and he was touched that Jack even thought to give it to him at all, he spread the huge coat over himself and shifted his position once again to try and ease his leg. He knew his injuries weren’t healing, he’d need to feed and that was going to be a problem. Maybe now, though, he’d just do what Jack had asked and sleep.


End file.
